Little Park
Barrow-in-Furness (Roose), Cumbria, England
Little Park, Barrow-in-Furness (Roose), England — opened 1891, 258 rugby league games hosted, home of None (demolished; last rugby league tenant was Barrow, 1914–1931).
Sourcing caveat: The 12,214 record-crowd figure (vs Oldham, 17 March 1923 Challenge Cup) comes from Wikipedia only — the Rugby League Project results pages checked for this write-up covered the venue's first 200 of 258 recorded matches (through the 1922/23 season) and did not surface an independent attendance figure for that specific fixture to cross-check against. The 8,000 attendance for the December 1921 Australia tour match, by contrast, is corroborated directly in Rugby League Project's own results data.
Ground facts
| Opened | 1891 (Wikipedia states the ground was in use by St George's rugby football club by 1891, when the 'Little Park' name is first recorded; an exact founding date is not given. Barrow Raiders (Barrow RLFC) did not move in as tenants until 1914 — Rugby League Project's own results database begins with a Barrow vs Bramley match on 26 September 1914, the club's first season at the ground.) |
| Home club | None (demolished; last rugby league tenant was Barrow, 1914–1931) |
| Closed | 1931 (Barrow relocated to Craven Park) |
| Demolished | Sold by Barrow Rugby in 1935 and later demolished; the site reportedly stood undeveloped until 1957 |
| Games hosted (rugby league, on record) | 258 |
| Top recorded crowd | 10,000 |
| Capacity | Peak recorded crowd of 12,214 (per Wikipedia, for a 1923 Challenge Cup tie vs Oldham — no fixed all-time capacity figure found, and this attendance figure is single-sourced; see caveat) |
| First rugby league match | As a rugby league (Northern Union) ground: Barrow 31–2 Bramley, 26 September 1914 (Barrow's first season at the ground, per Rugby League Project) |
| Last rugby league match | Barrow left for Craven Park in 1931; Rugby League Project's results database runs through the 1922/23 season in the pages checked |
| Years used | 1914–1931 |
| Location | Barrow-in-Furness (Roose), Cumbria |
Name history
- Little Park — in use by 1891 (recorded name; the ground's only known name)
Rugby league history
A historic rugby football ground at Roose, on the outskirts of Barrow-in-Furness, distinct from Barrow's later and current home grounds (Craven Park, and today Craven Park/the Speed Competitions Stadium name). Little Park was already home to local rugby (St George's) and association football clubs by 1891, but became significant to rugby league when Barrow moved there from Cavendish Park in 1914, using it as their home ground through the Northern Union/Northern Rugby League era of the 1910s and 1920s, including a 1921 tour match against Australia (Barrow lost 24-15 in front of a reported 8,000 crowd). Barrow left Little Park for Craven Park in 1931, after which the ground was briefly used for speedway and unaffiliated greyhound racing before being sold and eventually demolished.
Also hosted association football (Barrow A.F.C. 1905–1909, and Roose F.C.), athletics meetings, and briefly speedway and independent greyhound racing after Barrow RLFC left in 1931.
Sources
Data last verified: 11 August 2026.
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